Last weekend TJ and I went on a hiking trip just outside of San Pedro Sula. We drove straight out of the city on a 4x4, and immediately started up a mountain. It got cooler really fast. We took a local truck for about an hour and went by a few villages. We got out at the last stop for the truck, and then walked for another couple hours up to the next village, called Buenos Aires. There, we at a delicious dinner before heading up into the park.
It was dark at this point, so we were hiking up to the park in pitch black. There were no lights past the village, and the clouds made it so we couldn't even see the moon. It took us about an hour to get to Cusuco, which actually means armadillo in spanish. Despite its name, we didn't see any armadillos, as they are hunted extensively for food.
When we got up to the campsite we set up our tents, and put some warmer clothes on. It was freezing! We even got to have a fire. We all hung out a bit together, but we were pretty tired from hiking all day, so it was an early night. It was the first time TJ and I have camped since we've moved to Honduras, and it felt so nice to be back sleeping outdoors. We didn't see much fauna, but TJ did see a crazy green snake on the way to fill up our water bottles at a nearby creek.
The next morning we hiked backed to the village and got some fresh coffee and fritas (similar to sweet pancakes) from a local woman named Marita. It was some of the best coffee we've ever had. Our guides told us that Marita's family pick, clean, dry, roast and grind all the beans themselves. It was so delicious. It was really cool to get to see some more traditional Honduran culture and use our spanish with some people who didn't know a word of English. We actually found that the people up in the mountain had much clearer Spanish than people in San Pedro Sula.
After another delicious breakfast in the village, we went back up into the park to hike to a waterfall called Toucan waterfall, aptly named after all the toucans in the park. The hike was about three hours, and went all the way down a valley and then back up. It was a challenging hike, but it was worth it. We got to see some amazing views of the mountains, mountain coffee fields and an amazing waterfall.
When we got to the waterfall, we went for a swim, and it was FREEZING! The mountain river definitely cooled us all off.
After another quick hike down to the lower village and an hour or so in the truck, we arrived back in the city. It was such a great trip, and we can't wait to go back for a longer trip next year!
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